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Dog missing after bear encounter

John Moran is pictured with his 110-pound dog, Bo, who went missing Saturday after a bear encounter behind his Santa Rosa Beach home.

Special to the Daily News

By ANGEL McCURDY / Daily News

Published: Monday, November 4, 2013 at 05:34 PM.

SANTA ROSA BEACH — Most days, Karen Moran’s back yard is occupied by a 110-pound dog whose greatest joy is chasing a ball and sitting on its owners’ feet on the back porch.

But Moran’s yard has been empty since Saturday. Bo, the mix of black lab, Great Dane and maybe even pit bull has been missing since two black bears were spotted in their Hunters Road yard Saturday night.

“Bo is our heart,” Moran said, her voice cracking as she began to cry. “People think he looks mean, but he’s just a big baby.

“I can’t even think of him being killed by a bear. I just can’t. I cried all day yesterday thinking about it.”

In the past, bears have roamed her neighborhood just feet from animals and residents without any problems, but this weekend the bears were aggressive.

A cub, which Moran guessed was about 50 pounds, attacked her 28-pound dog, but her husband was able to scare it away and get the dog to safety. Bo, though, was either scared off or possibly hurt by the mother bear.

“Those bears have been in our neighborhood for years. I don’t know what their problem was that night,” Moran said. “If a dog runs off because he’s scared, he should have been back by now. We searched for him everywhere.”

Her neighborhood, which has just 17 homes, has done what it can do keep the bears away but a neighboring complex has Dumpsters accessible to the bears.

“Even if I never get my dog back we need to do something so we can save someone else’s dog,” she said.

SANTA ROSA BEACH — Most days, Karen Moran’s back yard is occupied by a 110-pound dog whose greatest joy is chasing a ball and sitting on its owners’ feet on the back porch.

But Moran’s yard has been empty since Saturday. Bo, the mix of black lab, Great Dane and maybe even pit bull has been missing since two black bears were spotted in their Hunters Road yard Saturday night.

“Bo is our heart,” Moran said, her voice cracking as she began to cry. “People think he looks mean, but he’s just a big baby.

“I can’t even think of him being killed by a bear. I just can’t. I cried all day yesterday thinking about it.”

In the past, bears have roamed her neighborhood just feet from animals and residents without any problems, but this weekend the bears were aggressive.

A cub, which Moran guessed was about 50 pounds, attacked her 28-pound dog, but her husband was able to scare it away and get the dog to safety. Bo, though, was either scared off or possibly hurt by the mother bear.

“Those bears have been in our neighborhood for years. I don’t know what their problem was that night,” Moran said. “If a dog runs off because he’s scared, he should have been back by now. We searched for him everywhere.”

Her neighborhood, which has just 17 homes, has done what it can do keep the bears away but a neighboring complex has Dumpsters accessible to the bears.

“Even if I never get my dog back we need to do something so we can save someone else’s dog,” she said.